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History · Gallitzin Township

Gallitzin Township dates to 1849, and 15% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: 4 old photos and papers, maps from 1902 on, and the census since 1880.

1849founded
0on the National Register
15%homes built before 1940
4old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Gallitzin Township’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Gallitzin Township began

When was Gallitzin Township founded?

1849

Gallitzin Township dates its founding to 1849 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1880.

First census: 799 in 18802020 census: 1,273177 years
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1888.The full story ↓

What stands out about Gallitzin Township’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

Lost villages3 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Gallitzin Township, and 7 old place names are still on the map.A history waiting to be writtenOnly 4 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 19023 editions of the USGS map, 1902 to 1972. Watch Gallitzin Township change.Boom and bustPeaked at 3,618 in 1940; 1,536 people lived here in 2020.
★ What stands out · Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Three other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Amsbry
1888–1955
Elstie
1891–1910
Coupon
1894–1966
18801950today
Hamlets and corners on the map
AmsbryBuckhornCouponElstieGreenfieldSpindley CitySyberton
Gone or out of use
Dawson Stationlocale
5cemeteries and burying grounds inside Gallitzin Township
Amsbry UnionSaint Joseph Cemetery - PolishSaint Josephs Roman CatholicSaint ThomasUnion Methodist

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Help out

Start Gallitzin Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Gallitzin Township’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
3 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Date a photo1 archive item has no date. Guess the decade.+2Retake an old viewGallitzin PA BEye View 1901: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
On the map

Gallitzin Township on the map, 1902 to 1972

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Gallitzin Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Gallitzin Township on the 1902 USGS mapGallitzin Township on the 1961 USGS mapGallitzin Township on the 1972 USGS map1902Patton sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Gallitzin Township.

The story

How Gallitzin Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Gallitzin Township.

Read it all →

Dutch traders and trappers friendly to the Susquehannock may have visited the region about 1620, as the town sits atop a mountain pass through which the ancient Amerindian trails (later renamed the Kittanning Path) transited. The plateau atop the escarpment was the domain of the Iroquoian confederations of the Erie people and the Susquehannock peoples, both sharing the byways and hunting lands of the Allegheny Mountains until about the mid-1650s. The Susquehannock and Erie people are known to have traded through the area, one of the few avenues the Erie, who dominated the hunting lands west of the Alleghenies, had to obtain by firearms; though, by all accounts, all the tribes in contact with the numerous Erie were reluctant to trade them firearms. Further, Susquehannocks are quoted to have expected 800 Erie warriors in 1662 to join in their war with the Iroquois. By 1675, both the Sus…

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Gallitzin Township, 1849 to 1966

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1849
    FoundingGallitzin Township is established
  3. 1888Post officeThe Amsbry post office opens
  4. 1891Post officeThe Elstie post office opens
  5. 1894Post officeThe Coupon post office opens
  6. 20th century
  7. 1901In the archiveGallitzin PA BEye View 1901
  8. 1902On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  9. 1910Post officeThe Elstie post office closes
  10. 1918In the archivePennsylvania Railroad : Locomotive
  11. 1929In the archivePennsylvania Railroad : Locomotive PRR 4330
  12. 1940CensusPopulation peaks at 3,618
  13. 1955Post officeThe Amsbry post office closes
  14. 1966Post officeThe Coupon post office closes
By decade

Gallitzin Township, decade by decade

3 decades in the archive, from the 1900s to the 1920s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1900s–1920s3 items
Gallitzin PA BEye View 19011901Gallitzin PA BEye View 1901Pennsylvania Railroad : Locomotive1918Pennsylvania Railroad : LocomotivePennsylvania Railroad : Locomotive PRR 43301929Pennsylvania Railroad : Locomotive PRR 4330
1930s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
Date unknown1 to date
Pennsylvania Railroad, Allegheny Tunnel, Beneath Allegheny Mountain, east of Railroad StreetDate?Pennsylvania Railroad, Allegheny Tunnel, Beneath Alle…
Today11 recent
Signature Park, Gallitzin, PA, May 20242024Signature Park, Gallitzin, PA, May 2024Church Street wb, Gallitzin, PA, May 20242024Church Street wb, Gallitzin, PA, May 2024Eastbound Pennsylvanian approaching the Allegheny Tunnel, August 20222022Eastbound Pennsylvanian approaching the Allegheny Tun…USGS overview indicating Kittanning Gap's, Pennsylvania location near Altoona, PA and showing the PRR Horseshoe Curve2016USGS overview indicating Kittanning Gap's, Pennsylvan…Gallitzin - panoramio (2)2015Gallitzin - panoramio (2)Gallitzin - panoramio (1)2015Gallitzin - panoramio (1)Sunset - panoramio (374)2014Sunset - panoramio (374)Abandoned Tower At2013Abandoned Tower AtHorseshoe Curve map, Horseshoe Curve Park PA2013Horseshoe Curve map, Horseshoe Curve Park PAMapFoggy Morning Fall Morning with snow on the ground2009Foggy Morning Fall Morning with snow on the groundGallitzin caboose2006Gallitzin caboose
Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Gallitzin PA BEye View 1901
Retake this viewGallitzin PA BEye View 1901, 1901

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Gallitzin Township’s page.

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Gallitzin Township, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,5003,0003,5004,00018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 3,618

Peaked at 3,618 in 1940; 1,536 people lived here in 2020.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Gallitzin Township’s Wikipedia page.

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Allegheny TownshipIts storyBDean TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townLogan Township3 historic placesB+AshvilleIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townGallitzinIts storyB+TunnelhillIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townCresson Township1 historic placeCAllegheny TownshipIts storyB−

Questions about Gallitzin Township’s history

What year was Gallitzin Township founded?

In 1849, according to Wikidata. Gallitzin Township’s post office opened in 1888, and the census of 1880 counted 799 people here.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (12), the Library of Congress (3), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.